The Austin Improv Potluck

The group photo from the 2012 Austin Improv Potluck.

The Austin Improv Potluck is an annual potluck for the Austin Improv community.

Summary

The potluck occurs every year on the Sunday before Thanskgiving. Everyone in the Austin-improv community is invited, and typically about a hundred people show up for the event. The potluck is one of the few events still under the aegis of The Austin Improv Collective. At some point during every potluck, all the improvisors gather together for a massive group photo.

Love Notes

"Love notes", a potluck tradition, are short affectionate notes exchanged among improvisors.

Every year at the potluck, the organizers provide a stack of manila envelopes and markers. Should you want to receive love notes that year, you take a manila envelope, write your name on it, and place it where everyone can access it. (Some years, there have been clotheslines strung up for this purpose; other years, manila envelopes were all masking-taped to a wall.) Then, anyone who wishes can write a short note about you, either anonymously or not, and leave it in your envelope. At the end of the night, you gather up your envelope, and with it, all the kind notes people have written about you.

History

The first annual potluck was held in 2004, and the event has grown in size and scale every year. In early years, the potluck also included an awards ceremony, but that was discontinued in 2011. Earlier potlucks were held at improvisors' houses, but the potluck has grown too large to be hosted by individuals, and now the AIC rents a sizeable venue every year for the event.

Media

• An Austin Improv Potluck photoset from Steve Rogers.